Tadcaster Broon

I'm not a fan of Newcastle Brown, but a lot of tears are being shed over the move of the Scottish and Newcastle brewery to Tadcaster. It does raise the issue of trades' description act, but I'm not sure how much of their stuff is still brewed in Scotland, so losing the Newcastle bit probably isn't a stretch. On top of that, a lot of our 'imported' beer is brewed under licence by British brewers (including S&N) anyhow. Let's face it, they messed around with Theakston's when they brewed it - to the extent that you'd have to be in a pub that really knew how to keep ales to get anything from it. They also messed with John Smith's, which hasn't always been the ubiquitous insipid nitrokeg non-handpulled bilge that it is now. No doubt the Chronic will soon be full of tales about the gnashing of the teeth of the 'Geordie Nation' - most of whom probably drink John bloody Smith's anyhow - and MPs and councillors jumping on the bandwagon, even though the move has been on the cards for a long time and Brown hasn't been made in Newcastle itself for a few years.

Maybe we should send Brown-fan Clint Eastwood around. Or maybe we should patronise genuine 'local' breweries that produce better beers like Mordue, Jarrow, Wylam or Hexhamshire etc etc.

As if we haven't got enough to worry about with the football!

See http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-evening-chronicle/2009/10/13/s-n-to-close-newcastle-brown-ale-brewery-72703-24916782/